3-wood has been the one constant pieces of golf equipment in my bag for the last four years. And to be honest, even the prospect of being custom fitted for either of the spanking new GTS2 or GTS3 fairways woods wasn’t wanting me to change it out.
When you find a golf club you really like, why change it?
The stalwart in question is the Cobra LTDx 15-degree fairway wood, a club I tested in 2022 and instantly loved. I’ve hit some great shots (I didn’t think were possible) with it and it’s always been there when my driver decided to get out of the wrong side of the bed.
To accompany the new Titleist GTS2, GTS3 and GTS4 drivers, Titleist have also brought forward the release of the new GTS2 and GTS3 Fairway woods.
In this review I will be focussing on the larger, more forgiving GTS2 model.
Who’s It Aimed At?
The GTS2 Fairway Wood is designed to offer a high launch and flight, low spin and lots of forgiveness. It is available in five different lofts which makes it easy for golfers to achieve the correct distance gapping at the top end of the bag.
If you’re a golfer that has more of a sweeping delivery with your metals, then the chances are GTS2 will be more up your street, as the shallow face will help with consistent strikes.
However, don’t be fooled that this is just a club for higher handicappers, as Bernd Weisberger recently won the Volvo China Open with it in the bag (his first victory in 1,792 days).
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The Tech
The Titleist GTS2 Fairway Wood is the more forgiving and easier-launching option in the new fairway wood lineup, with a larger profile and shallower face designed to inspire confidence at address.
Like the GTS3, it uses Titleist’s new wraparound composite crown construction, which saves weight by using more lightweight composite material across the upper section of the head. That mass is then repositioned lower and deeper in the clubhead to help increase launch, reduce spin and improve forgiveness.
The shallower face and flatter sole design are intended to make the GTS2 particularly easy to launch from the turf, especially for players with a more sweeping strike or those who tend to impact the ball lower on the face.
Titleist’s forged L-Cup face also returns, with the insert wrapping around the lower portion of the face to help preserve ball speed and launch conditions on strikes low on the clubface.
There’s also added adjustability through the heel-toe weighting system, allowing fitters to fine-tune CG positioning and shot shape bias depending on player preference.
A new high-polish silver face finish completes the package, giving the GTS2 a cleaner and more premium look behind the ball.
Titleist GTS2 Fairway Wood Review
Looks
First impressions of the club in hand, it looks great – very Titleist. It’s modern and sleek with the all-back glossy finish on the crown and sole. The sole design is simple, a little like the drivers, and features two front weights at a diagonal angle that again give it a ‘techy’ look and feel.
Then there’s the face, which is the biggest change visually that Titleist have made to a metalwood in several years, by changing it from the black/grey titanium finish to a bright, eye-catching all silver face with white grooves.
The only way to describe the kind of pop this change makes is to compare it to a new iron face, and I think it looks great. It complements that black glossy head very well whilst making the face look huge! For me it inspired confidence and made it look there was plenty of loft at address, which is never a bad thing as I tend to open the face a little at address to try and solve this myself anyway.
The silver face is a throwback on a modern looking club, it reminded me a little of the Titleist 909F2 Fairway or the legendary 906F2 Fairways – a really simple but nice touch.
So far good, but unfortunately one area I wasn’t a huge fan of was the size of the GTS2 head from front to back – I just think it’s too big. Almost mini driver-esc, albeit much shallower.
Fairways I’ve tended to use over the years have compact but shallow heads, yet looking down on the GTS2 I couldn’t think of anything else other than a drop-kick strike – is there anything worse than that feeling with a fairway wood?
This is just personal preference but from the off I knew it was something I was going to have to get used to. I much preferred the look of the GTS3 Fairway, yet the face of that is quite deep and didn’t suit my angle of attack.
Feel
A little like the GTS drivers this thing feels awesome out of the middle, but you know about if pretty quickly when it’s not.
I really liked the sound, its metallic, traditional and offers plenty of feedback in the sound department, without sounding high pitched or tingy.
I think a lot of golfers will really enjoy hitting balls with this club – I certainly have done.
Performance
Usually my Cobra LTDx 3-wood carries 235 yards give or take, and I really like that number, so I was impressed to see the Titleist GTS2 beat that fairly comfortably with just a few hits on the range.
I swing a fairway wood at 100 mph and produced the following data on average: 150 mph ballspeed, 3632 rpm of spin, 238 carry and 253 yards total at a height of 96 feet. It’s fair to say just looking at my averages that the GTS2 was performing very well for me.
The first shot I hit with it, carried 237 yards 251 total and more importantly the ball flight was as straight as a die – I couldn’t of hit it straighter. I hit another that was pulled around 15 yards left but carried 245 yards with a ballspeed of 151.6 which are speeds I’ve never seen before with a fairway wood.
Despite the large footprint, there’s no doubting that the GTS2 is long and very stable, maybe their was some method behind the huge head.
Titleist GTS2 Fairway Wood Verdict
This is an all-round great fairway wood, that produced some great ball data during my testing. I was hitting shots that you just love to see with a fairway wood, long high and straight.
The shift to the silver face is a great one and like the silver back weight on the back of each of the GTS Drivers, shows that Titleist take shelf appeal and TV notoriety seriously, no matter how much they always stick to their traditional Titleist routes.
My main criticism however is not one of the GTS2 alone, but more of the fairway wood range as a whole – for me, I’d have liked something in the middle that sits in between the GTS2 and GTS3 in shape. I think fairways should be shallow but still small and compact, allowing for some manipulation and versatility.
On the course using the GTS2 it was also brilliant off the tee, there’s been a couple of instances where the forgiveness has really helped me on toe strikes, and well struck shots out of the middle just fly!
Would I Use It?
It’s going to take a lot to convince me that this is a better club for me than my Cobra LTDx, but despite the head shape I think the GTS2 might just be here to stay.
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